I never said printed books and e-books were "the same." I just pointed out that they are two delivery methods for the actual product, the
literature.
I'll also point out that a printed book doesn't last forever, nor is it impervious from damage or wear. And while a PDA might wear out, the actual literature can be backed up, transferred to another storage device and read on something else.
And "technical know-how"? We're talking about a PDA, not a nuclear power plant... anyone who can be taught to drive a car or operate a coffeemaker can operate a PDA.
At any rate, we can discuss the supposed "downsides" to each format until the cows come home (and around here, we often do
). But the durability of either format is actually not the point here. Books are a product, a commodity, and the issue here is whether the old version of the commodity will still be sold when the new version of the commodity takes hold.
Based on the recent history of most printed media, I think it's safe to say that as printing costs go up and printers close their doors--as has been happening for the past two decades--printed books will become rarer and rarer, eventually reduced to "boutique" items suitable for gifts and display (and reflecting higher gift-type prices), but not for casual buying.
In the meantime, more books will become digitally produced, making them available to a wider audience. Even books we might not expect to go digital, like glossy-quality magazines and coffee-table books, will go digital as better display systems are introduced. It won't be a matter of aesthetics, it will be a matter of practicality... the infrastructure for printing and physically distributing books is
already eroding. Digital is the only viable method for mass publishing for the future.